It's only natural that the Obama administration would want to sell what it thinks is the superiority of its policies. As his term in office wore on, Obama certainly got better at it -- to the extent that he was able to push through a deal with Iran, despite opposition by Congress and a majority of Americans.

But drawing opposing parties like Israel and the Palestinian Arabs into an agreement has proven to be far more difficult than merely running roughshod over native opposition.

Just ask John Kerry.

John Kerry having one of those...years Credit: AP

Making the Iran deal a reality turned out to be only the beginning. Since then, every effort has been made by the Obama administration to maintain the agreement by overlooking the Iranian violations, ignoring its aggressive behavior, and conceding to Iran's hostage demands.

As he finishes up his tenure, Iran tests missiles, arrests Americans and still demands new concessions from the U.S. China builds artificial islands in the South China Sea. And Russia continues to bomb civilians in Syria. Meanwhile, the Israelis and Palestinians are further away from a negotiated settlement than they were when Obama took office.

As for other Arab countries which are nowhere near to having peaceful relations with Israel:

Lebanon, for as long as it remains controlled by the Hezbollah terrorist organization and the Islamic regime in Iran, will never make any peace.

Syria, doesn’t exist anymore as a country, and no one is rushing there to eat Hummus in Damascus.

Iraq? Yemen? The Islamic State of Iran (who aren’t even Arabs, and don’t care about “Palestinians”)?

We already have quiet business happening with some of the Gulf states.

That pretty much just leaves Saudi Arabia, and personally, besides overflight permission for El Al, I could pass on them.

If anyone is wondering why Kerry applied only the carrot and not the stick to Iran, it seems to be because he was too busy using it on Israel. But the inaccuracies in his criticisms of Israel are part of the reason why taking Kerry as a serious negotiator has been problematic, just as the willingness of the Obama administration to appease just about everybody else led to the Arab world not taking it seriously.

In his closing weeks, Obama will try to trumpet his triumphs, but many will not take him seriously.
As for Kerry, the one accomplishment which might arguably be called a success -- the Iran deal -- is even now, before Donald Trump assumes office, showing signs of unraveling.

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